Little Ship Big War / Commander Edward P. Stafford / AllNavyBooks.com

The true story of the destroyer escort USS Abercrombie (DE-343) in World War II. The author Commander Edward P. Stafford was a lieutenant and later the executive officer aboard the little DE. Here is the story of Abercrombie from the time her keel was laid in Orange, Texas, until her decommissioning in San Francisco, California. The ship saw action in the Pacific during World War II, fighting the Japanese from the Battle of the Philippine Sea to the signing of the peace treaty in Japan. Abercrombie did it all; sinking Japanese submarines, picking up downed pilots, riding out a terrible typhoon and battling the dreaded Japanese kamikazes suicide pilots off the island of Okinawa. The importance of destroyer escorts has been largely overlooked by naval historians, who seem to concentrate on the more glamorous battleships and carriers of World War II. But here, Stafford chronicles the epic history of his own USS Abercrombie—an excellent history of a DE from start to finish. Commander Stafford also wrote "The Big 'E.”

New softbound edition 9 X 6 inches. 336 pages, 11 black and white photographs, and an index.

New Book --- $19.95

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"Edward Stafford, a retired Commander in the U.S. Navy, is better-known for his book "The Big E" about the carrier USS Enterprise during World War II. However, this book is worthy to stand with that epic work. A autobiography of Stafford's 1943-45 service on the USS Abercrombie, a destroyer escort, he describes in an very readable manner, day-to-day service on a World War II DE. The Abercrombie was one of hundreds of little-known ships who did their duty without fanfare during World War II. The crew was made up of heroes, cowards, spit-and-polish martinets, true leaders and all the others. Humorous incidents as well as the stress of constant general quarters are described in a very believable manner. Probably the highlight of the book (for me) was Stafford's description of the Battle Off Samar in October, 1944. In it, a handful of destroyers, DEs and escort carriers were all that stood between the Japanese main fleet and the American invasion fleet of helpless transports. Stafford describes in moving detail the sacrifices of these ships in launching attacks against ships ten times their size in an epic that is long-overlooked and ranks with the Alamo and Bastogne. Stafford's ship was within sight of the enemy fleet, and although not engaged, he describes the feelings of men who know they will soon launch their frail craft against an enemy many times their strength. If I had to take ten books on a desert island, this would we one of them. I hope that some smart publisher (maybe the USNI's "Classics of Naval Literature series?) will decide to bring this out again. Unidentified reader